breathe the free air again

10:03pm--A 7.7 earthquake in the Hindu Kush at one thirty this afternoon and I never felt a ripple.  I had just sat down to eat lunch when the earth cracked way up there.  I was surprised to read though that Quetta, two hours drive southeast from Kandahar, felt it significantly.  The tremors don’t go in all directions.  Why is that?  In Nepal they went east and west and north, ok, surely they were felt in the south,  but this one in the HK went east and then south, as far as New Delhi.  The tremors went right around the desert city. 

And just as I write this the solar power goes off and I hear Rezek skirmishing around.  For the last two nights the solar has been on during the night, what the jeebs boys, turn it off when no one is using it so there’ll be some juice at least until eleven.  oh well.  And the internet went off as well and that is alright I guess.  It’s time to go to sleep again. 

10.27.15

At six am the room is too dark to read.  Two days of no city power until seven thirty came.  This is good.  Today we are going to Kandahar University to give the resume workshop and I’d like to shower.  I’ll also change kameezes, the beige one has collected a wide variety of stains and darkened dirt edges and I must admit, wearing the same outfit for seven or eight weeks is pretty damn agreeable. 

A student said Kandahar never feels the earthquakes and we looked at the map I put up a few minutes earlier of the region which shows the mountains bending around to the east of the city and its plot in the flat desert.  I guess I’m still surprised that the tremors didn’t fan out. 

It was 46F this morning.  Ya, it never got this cold in Buraimi for sure.  I think tonight is a full moon.  I hope to be on the roof for its rising whatever time that is.

The city power went off.  Ninety minutes of juice didn’t heat up the geyser enough. 

4:37pm—The workshop went as well as can be expected.  There were roughly sixty students in the room with a stage that I stood on and referred to the power point on the screen explaining steps one must take to write a resume.  I’ve certainly revised mine way too much…is that why I’m doing workshops now?

A waning gibbous is less than an hour away, 5:32, ten minutes after the sunset.   Has a moonrise ever coincided with a sunset?  I do not know that.  Surely there could be some serious hoping something would happen, eh, but science, ya, ya just take the mystery out of the heavens.  Blood red moons must have scared the shit out of everybody until science pooped on the stage. 

8.43pm—The sunset and moonrise were somewhat disappointing, I know it’s peaceful and clean on the roof but these two have been dancing above these deserts for so long they haven’t had anyone take their photo since…when I don’t know.  I have yet to see someone on a roof.  Today was another calm and cool day, the sun simply warmed me giving me the good chills which quickly toasted and I was toasty.  This season is short according to a few I’ve asked, take advantage and have some seats on the roof and a table and relax and chill. 

Yes I know expecting an Afghan to behave like a Yankee is absurd, but there is nothing wrong with being on the roof above the walls where you can once again breath the free air.  And such stars at night. 

I didn’t take my camera to the university and I wish I had;  from the main road to my right I saw a huge baby blue mosque that just looked like the top half of a Faberge egg from top to bottom, I couldn’t see where the entrance was but it just looked really cool and I blew it.  The battery was half charged and I left it plugged in the charger in case city power returned, which it did, so I could have a full battery for this evening’s solar duel dud. 

And I didn’t take the camera with me to Pizza Hot for what turned out to be a place with pretty damn good pizza I am happy to report, in Kandahar.  So, I can say there are five restaurants with English/Pashto menus I have eaten in and have not become ill.  This is good.  They say they will deliver.  A new concept still here, but the manager Ahmed said he’d deliver.  Even if he has to take a taxi to deliver  our dinner here.  We will see.